History

Probably C16; a cruck-framed storeyed hall-house, said to have a 1st floor 2-bay hall with central ornate open truss and cusped windbraces. The L-hand unit is C17, in the same range as Nos 47-49. Fine T-plan staircase of c1700. The stone front is probably late C18, with later alterations. It was licensed as The Royal Oak in 1788, and continued as such until 1900. In the C20 it was converted to a butcher's shop, much of the meat hung in the rear wing.

Exterior

Three-window house, of one-and-a-half storeys, the L-hand unit of a different build, with higher eaves and lower ridge. The front is of dressed coursed grey stone on a plinth under a slate roof; rendered and lined stack to R of centre, and further stack to L, probably shared with 49. Ground floor openings have large stone lintels, upper storey windows are under gabled half-dormers with light timber-framing. Entrance to L of centre with small-pane glazed wooden door. Flanking 3-light mullioned and transomed uPVC windows, replacing wooden casements in a similar style. Upper storey windows as below, 3-light to centre, and 2-light to outer units. Rectangular vehicular through-passage to far R, leading to a long rear wing. The rear wing is of one-and-a-half storeys, rendered and modernised, with uPVC windows and raked dormers. It was built in a number of phases, and includes a flat and garages with double boarded doors to the R end.

Interior

Inside the entrance is a small stair-hall with T-shaped staircase to rear, with slender turned balusters. Behind the staircase is an inserted partition, the 1st floor hall said to be beyond. The living room is to the R of the stair-hall and contains a continuous spine-beam with distinctive double hollow mouldings, supported on moulded capitals; this beam continues from the stair-hall. The living room has a large fireplace to R end with yoke-shaped timber lintel. Timber-framing has been found beneath the plaster, including in the rear R room. The room to the L of the stair-hall, part of the same range as 47-49, has a C17 ceiling with medium-chamfered cross- and spine-beams. To the L of the staircase is the entrance to a cellar, a large deep-chamfered post slightly cut-away for the cellar stairs, and with evidence for an earlier doorway. The kitchen at the N end of the rear wing has a spine-beam, boxed-in as it was damaged during use as a butchers. Upper storey not seen, but said to retain windbraces of open roof, now ceiled in attic.

Reasons for Listing

Listed grade II* for its exceptional historic interest as a medieval cruck-framed hall house retaining good internal detail from the C16 up to 1700.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17742281

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey